Traders Buy Large Volume of Banco Santander Call Options (NYSE:SAN)

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 13,194 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,244% compared to the typical volume of 982 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Banco Santander by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,893,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,558,000 after buying an additional 5,290,236 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 106.3% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 9,101,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,501,000 after acquiring an additional 4,689,461 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Banco Santander by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,775,261 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,413,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 143,585,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $732,284,000 after buying an additional 2,011,150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of SAN traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $7.15. 5,710,059 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,165,348. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.68 and a 200-day moving average of $5.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.26 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. Banco Santander has a 1-year low of $4.27 and a 1-year high of $7.15.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 11.90%. Analysts expect that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.1152 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This is a boost from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. This represents a yield of 2.4%. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is 19.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on SAN shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

About Banco Santander

Banco Santander, SA provides various financial services worldwide. The company operates through Retail Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and PagoNxt segments. It offers demand and time deposits, mutual funds, and current and savings accounts; mortgages, consumer finance, loans, and various financing solutions; and project finance, debt capital markets, global transaction banking, and corporate finance services.